dance video of the day - Bridgman Packer

Submitted by Susan Miller on Fri, 07/21/2006 - 15:51.

 

I have been searching for dance video on the web and have been interested to note that much of it is coming out of Europe despite the fact that great innovations in the field are taking place right here in the good ole US of A. Well, today I received an email response to my inquiry from some longtime dance friends Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer about a collaboration that they may be doing with a local company. The news is this -- yes they will be doing some work for David Shimotakahara's company Groundworks this fall. That is exciting news. Their performances (I presented them a few times at CSU) were always very cool as these two are brilliant thinkers and beautiful movers, and the work they set on The Repertory Project (both our first purchased work Lunchbreak and their duet Lava Falls) were big hits with local audiences. It will be a treat to have them leave more of their innovation in the bodies of Northeast Ohio dancers and therefore in the minds of Northeast Ohio audiences. Kudos to Groundworks for cultivating this partnership!
    Here's the bonus though -- they sent these video clips to whet our appetites for their very own performance. Let’s hope someone can make that happen. You’ll see why…
    Check them out here: http://www.peterbobrow.com/projects/bridgman-packer/index.html  
Not only are they doing this very cool interactive work, but it is posted on the web for us to enjoy. This is the vanguard of dance video in the US. Challenge me on this with more dance video posts here, please.

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Awesome - you are making something big happen here

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Fri, 07/21/2006 - 23:06.

Wow - these videos are so cool - I especially love "Dressing". and the technique of the performance and multimedia is astounding... I watched over and over trying to imagine how they put these together. I look forward to learning more about what this team is doing with Groundworks (and learning more about Groundworks, as I've mentioned before).

Your observation that much of the innovative dance on the Internet is from Europe is very important. Just as we see science and technology in America corrupted by the fodder of American industrial politics, we see creativity squelched by that collaboration, and such neanderthal corruption of free trade, speech and thought has destroyed Information Technology innovation in America, pushing the bleeding edge to Europe (the software running this site is from a European rocket scientist).

Why I work in NEO at all is because we are so creative here - e.g. Groundworks - and yet so weak at information technology, so I believe content creators like those at Groundworks, who should be world-class in the world, will benefit from absolute paradigm shift approaches to IT, and that is very exciting. You find me the creative innovators and I'll help them figure out how to use IT to be world leaders through IT as well as their dance.

In the mean time, I love seeing what the rest of the world is doing. Thank you for that, as it is fascinating!

Disrupt IT

Video and the future of dance?

Submitted by Evelyn Kiefer on Fri, 07/21/2006 - 23:39.

I really appreciate the dance videos you have posted. They are beautiful and amazing! I can't wait to see what they are like live. Having seen the videos definitely makes be want to see more. I wonder if soon video could be used to draw larger audiences for dance in places like Cleveland where it is a struggle to find audiences and support? If people could see short promotional videos instead of just hearing ads on the radio or reading them in the newspaper I'm sure more tickets could be sold. Do any dance companies that you know of send out emails with video now? I have to admit, I do not know much about dance other than the classical repetoire of ballet and famous modern figures like Loie Fuller, Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham. I'm sure I'm not the only Clevelander who does not know what to expect when I find out that a dance company is performing in Cleveland. Video might remove some of the uncertainty.

VIDEO MONITORS IN PUBLIC SPACES

Submitted by Martha Eakin on Sat, 07/22/2006 - 12:16.

   

    What about having several, or at least one, high quality video monitor (like the one that NEWCAT had in the window of the Sisser Gallery during Ingenuity) in a well traveled area, that would show clips of local and out-of-area performers. As Evelyn suggested, prospective audience members could be cultivated by tantalizing them with what is available.  Some of the windows on Euclid now contain art to spruce up otherwise vacant space.  Why not move into video promotion and education?  If the monitors are too expensive to be located behind a breakable window, how about somewhere in Tower City or on other property that has a 24 hour presence?

Could use Jumbotron, but Internet is more powerful

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Sat, 07/22/2006 - 13:09.

Sprawl pretty much guarantees the only places NEOans gather is at malls and sports events, and there are already plenty of big-ass TVs around town - the Jumbotron at Playhouse Square, all the displays at the sports arenas, the TVs at RTA Tower City - they don't use the technology to benefit the community and never will, so please let's not waste our money energy on big TVs intended for mainstream marketing.

The problem isn't getting more TVs in NEO but rather getting impactful rich content from NEO to people everywhere in the world - there are probably a billion people worldwide with great technology and bandwidth who can access rich media on the internet - the problem is with the arts in NEO and the same as for all the arts here - poor understanding of and use of information technology by artists, arts organizaitons, non-profits and the IT leadership of the community. Just put on IdeaStream and see how much innovative programming there is from Cleveland (none) versus how many reruns of lame programming - we just spent $10,000,000s to give them a world-class facility and it hasn't changed anything here.

Who has any neo-originated music, art or dance content here in NEO that is worth putting online, in a format that works, with the rights to distribute that on-line?

If there is not content that is usable, there's nothing else to talk or think about except why all the dance and other arts orgs in town have failed to record their content in a useful way, and distribute it intelligently, and how to change that. We are well over a decade into the current generation of high bandwidth internet so if you aren't with it now, you need to rethink what you are and why, and if you have a future in the global new economy.

If anyone has useful content they want to put online, they can contact me at realneo [at] inbox [dot] com and we'll help make it happen. Let's not throw a bunch of money at creative content, TVs and storefront displays to provide window-dressing for real estate developers too uncreative and selfish to just put their buildings into productive use... let us instead focus the arts on protesting in front of the way-underutilized May Co. building, which is a server hotel instead of vibrant mixed use anchor of Public Square... and all around Dilliards and Tower City, which are hold outs for big deals instead of a productive engines of our economy... they are screwing the arts and atists so let's not reward them further for that!

Disrupt IT

groundworks is doing cool web stuff

Submitted by Susan Miller on Sat, 07/22/2006 - 06:42.

Check out the Groundworks site http://www.notsoobvious.com/
No video that I can find, but a very cool site.
Not unlike a talk Martha and I heard given by Sarah Kabot at MOCA last evening. Looking for more than what is immediately apparent.

Groundworks site is cool but not effective

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Sat, 07/22/2006 - 11:06.

Because I recalled Marjorie Talalay mentioning she was supportive of Groundworks, I checked out their site and the flash is creative but the site is really annoying if you aren't there to be flashed - and after the first flash you dread having to go back as you need to be so flashed to get anything done there. If you just want to be informed, get in touch, do business, learn, or anything else the Internet enables, you will hate this site... in any case, it is a single flash in the dark. The links are really useless. You can't contact anyone by email, can't easily find a schedule, have no sense of legacy or content. They should keep the current site for flashing first time visitors and have a link to go to their real site where they get the job done. After spending lots of time there, I've been able to join a mailing list and learn what they think is cool and that's about it... oh, and if you dig deep enough, it seems they are having a dance in Akron coming up... I can't rremember when and because it is flash I couldn't cut and paste it into the REALNEO calendar so I didn't bother retyping all the info... I suppose I'll get an email announcement and can post it then (or perhaps you can keep track of dance on the calendar, Susan )

Disrupt IT

you nailed it, evelyn

Submitted by Susan Miller on Sat, 07/22/2006 - 06:45.

This is what I would love to see for more dance companies worldwide. I do think it is a great audience development tool. It is difficult to get people into the seats for a dance concert. I think this could really help dance companies sell tickets. Know any film makers who would be interested in doing these podcasts or vcasts locally?